Can Sleep Apnea Cause Your Genes to Change?

A mountain of research has clearly demonstrated that inadequate sleep can threaten lives by promoting all sorts of health problems. With that being said, until now, scientists didn’t really understand how poor sleep contributed to so many medical issues.

A Breakthrough Study

Researchers out of the University of Surrey have shown that insufficient sleep has the power to alter our genes in negative ways. Published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study split several subjects into two groups: one which slept normally and one which slept no more than six hours. After a week, the researchers tested all of the subjects’ blood and found that shorter sleep durations seemed to change more than 700 genes which play big roles in supporting good health by regulating the body’s natural production of specific proteins. By altering these genes, sleep deprivation appeared to increase each subject’s risk of developing medical problems, such as heart disease, depression, obesity, dementia, kidney disease and cancer.

Taking Action

If bad habits are responsible for your sleeping difficulties, you can indirectly support better health by making lifestyle changes which promote better sleep. On the other hand, if obstructive sleep apnea is causing you to sleep poorly; you’ll need help.

We know that sleep apnea can negatively impact a person’s quality of life by causing daytime fatigue and other problems. Now, we also know it can promote medical problems by causing sleep deprivation. Fortunately, Dr. Siegel provides his patients with sleep apnea relief thanks to oral appliances which allow them to breath clearly at night. By adjusting the jaw, these appliances promote unobstructed breathing, which puts an end to snoring, frequent waking and all of the debilitating symptoms associated with sleep apnea.